Quality Assurance vs Quality Control: Tutorial with Definitions & Differences

What Is Quality Control (QC)?

Quality control (QC) is a process through which a business seeks to ensure that a product quality is maintained or improved.Quality control needs the company to create an environment where management and employees strive for perfection.This is done by training personnel, generating benchmarks for product quality, and testing products to check for statistically significant variations.A significant aspect of quality control is the establishment of well-explained controls.These controls are help tostandardise both production and reactions to quality problems.Limiting room for error by specifying which production activities are to be finished by which personnel reduces the chance that employees will be involved in tasks for which they do not have adequate training.

Understanding Quality Control (QC)

• Quality control involves testing units and finding if they are within the specifications for the final product.
• The purpose of the testing is to find any needs for corrective actions in the manufacturing process.
• Companies may better satisfy consumer requests for better products with effective quality control.

Why Is QC Needed?

• Generating a product is costly, time-consuming, and can be unsafe without controls in place.
• Additionally, if a company sends defective products out for purchase, it could be held liable for injuries or problems that arise from using its products.
• Quality control inspectors ensure that defective or unsafe products are identified, and also the causes are corrected.

How Is It Done?

• Quality testing is commonly completed in every step of a manufacturing or business process.
• Employees often begin by testing raw materials, pulling samples from the manufacturing line, and testing the completed product.
• Testing at the different stages of manufacturing helps to identify where a production problem is occurring and the remedial steps it requires to prevent it in the future.
• In a non-manufacturing business, quality testing can involve the customer service evaluations, questionnaires, surveys, inspections, or audits.
• Any procedure or technique may be used by a company to ensure that the final product or service is safe, compliant, and satisfies consumer demands.
• In automobile manufacturing, quality control focused on parts meeting specifications and tolerances.
• QC ensures that engines, drive trains, and other mechanical parts operate smoothly, efficiently, safely, and as designed.
• In electronics, quality testing might involve using meters that measure the flow of electricity and also stress testing.

Quality Control vs. Quality Assurance

• Quality control and quality assurance are terms often used to explain the same thing, but there are distinct differences.
• Quality control focuses on quality needs, such as ensuring a part meets specifications.
• Quality assurance refers to the sum of all actions and processes needed to demonstrate that quality needs are fulfilled.
• What this difference means for quality professionals is that as they move through a quality control career, they might transition from quality control to quality assurance.
• Quality control is part of a quality assurance, which are programs and departments that assure upper-level management, customers, and government inspectors that products meet all the quality needs and safety standards.

Types of Quality Control Methods:

• There are several methods in quality control used to communicate and track inspections and problems.
• For instance, a quality control chart is a graphic that depicts whether sampled products or processes are meeting the intended specifications—and, if not, the degree by which they differ from those specifications.
• When one chart finds a specific product attribute, it is called a univariate chart.
• A chart that measures differences in several product attributes is called a multivariate chart.
• Tracking variances allows businesses to see how many defects per production unit they produce and what kind of defects are occurring.

Here are some examples of some methods used:

X-Bar Chart Method: Randomly selected products are tested for a given attribute the chart is tracking.A general form of a quality control chart is a X-Bar Chart.Where the y-axis on the graph tracks the degree to which the variance of the tested attribute is acceptable.The x-axis tracks the samples tested.Analysing the variance pattern on this chart helps to find if defects are occurring randomly or systematically.

Taguchi Method: The Taguchi Method of quality control is another approach that emphasises the roles of research and development, product design, and product development in reducing the occurrence of defects and failures in the products. The Taguchi Method considers design more important than the manufacturing process in quality control and tries to remove the variances in production before they can occur.

100% Inspection Method: This 100% inspection method is a quality control process involving looking at and assessing all the product parts.This type of quality control is done to rule out the flaws in the products.This method is used to calculate valuable metals and produce.The 100% inspection method calls for information about the manufacturing process and software to analyse inventory.The challenge of using this method is that looking at every single item used to build a product is expensive and could destabilise or render the product unusable.

For example, if you use this method to find organic strawberries, risk damaging the berries, rendering them unsellable.

Quality Control Careers:

Quality control can be a rewarding career if they enjoy working with people, communicating, presenting results, and working to make products better and safer.

To become a quality control inspector, need (depending on the industry)

• High school diploma for an entry-level positions
• A bachelor’s degree, depending on a industry
• Experience in the industry
• Licences and certifications for few industries and businesses

Other qualities that are need for quality control professionals are:

• Attention to the detail
• Mechanical and maths skills
• Physical abilities and strength
• Technical skills
• Performance under pressure

Career Path:

The route to a career in quality control and assurance differ by industry, so there may be differences.However, generally require several years of experience in the industry.Typically, begin by being hired as a quality assurance or control associate after meeting educational and work experience needs.Once gain work experience as a quality specialist or associate, that may move into a senior specialist position and begin managing teams of quality control specialists.May attend professional development courses that are sponsored by the employer or be required to gain certifications such as Six Sigma.A professional designation, such as Certified Quality Inspector, is also required.I have a lot of possibilities for moving up the employment ladder.

Having the option to select from or being chosen to be:

• QA Systems Manager
• QA Operations Manager
• QA Compliance Manager

These positions lead up to a upper-level management or executive levels within the quality control:

• Director of Quality
• Head of Compliance
• Vice President of Quality

Quality Control Salaries:

Depending on the role, expertise, and industry, quality control specialists make a variety of salaries.Pay increases as levels gain more experience and move into management positions.The Bureau of Labour Statistics reports are average salaries .

Why Is Quality Control Important?

Quality control ensures that defective goods do not go out to the public.Companies that have quality control methods to place often have employees who pay close attention to the work.In food and drug manufacturing, quality control prevents products that make customers sick, and in manufacturing, quality control can ensure that accidents don’t happen when people use that product.

3 Examples of Quality Control

Three examples of quality control could be in a food industry:

• Overseeing an ingredient specifications.
• Reviewing the supplier lists.
• Ensuring the cleanliness of the production facilities for the food product.

The Bottom Line

• Having quality control in place within a business helps to ensure product quality and the overall success for a business.
• The quality control environment influences employees’ attitudes about the workplace and generates a sense of ownership of the products and also company.
• Quality control can be done in different ways, from training personnel to generating data-driven tools to test products and set standards.
• Quality control methods help to create a safe work environment and products that are safe to use and meet customers’ requirements.
• Additionally, it is a rewarding career for someone that enjoys investigating problems and improving outcomes.

Benefits of Quality Control | Production Management:

1.Encourages quality consciousness: The main benefit of implementing quality control is that it fosters and encourages a quality consciousness among factory employees, which is more beneficial for obtaining the target level of product quality.

2. Satisfaction of consumers: Consumers are highly benefited as they get better quality products on an account of quality control.It gives satisfaction.

3. Reduction in production cost: By undertaking an effective inspection and control over production processes and operations, production costs are considerably reduced.Quality control further checks a production of inferior products and wastages are there by bringing down the cost of production considerably.

4. Most effective utilisation of resources: Quality control ensures that maximum utilisation of available resources thereby minimising the wastage and inefficiency of each kind.

5. Reduction in inspection costs: Quality control brings about economies of inspection and considerably reduces the cost of inspection.

6. Increased goodwill: By producing better quality products and satisfying the customer’s needs, quality control raises the goodwill of the concern in the minds of people. A reputed concern can simply raise finances from a market.

7. Higher morale of employees: An effective system of quality control is more helpful in increasing the morale of employees, and they feel that they are working in the concern of producing better and more quality products.

8. Improved employer-employee relations: Quality control develops to a better industrial atmosphere by improving the morale of employees which ensures cordial employer-employee relations leading to a better understanding and closeness between them.

9. Improved techniques and methods of production: By supplying technical and engineering data for the product and manufacturing processes, increased methods and designs of production are ensured by the quality control.

10. Effective advertisement: Organisations are producing quality products have an effective advertisement . They win public confidence by supplying those better quality products.

11. Facilitates price fixation: By introducing quality control measures, uniform products of similar quality are produced.This greatly facilitates the issues of price fixation.One price of standard products is becoming prevalent in a market.

12. Increased sales: Quality control ensures production of quality products which is immensely helpful in attracting many customers for the product thereby increasing the sales.It is more helpful in maintaining the existing demand and creating new demand for a product. It has been rightly pointed out that quality control is a powerful instrument with the help of which markets both at home and abroad can be extended.